The Vienna Philharmonic is one of the world's leading recording orchestras. Ever since its very first recording of Beethoven's 6th Symphony under Franz Schalk in 1928, work in the studio has taken up a considerable part of its "free time", which is, on account of its duties at the Vienna State Opera, in any case very limited. There are not many major 20th-century conductors, many important works of the operatic and concert repertory, or indeed many important labels that do not figure in its large and comprehensive disco-graphy.

Charles Munch's isn't the most subtle Beethoven around, but it certainly is exciting, and that counts for a lot. In particular, this Ninth has what has to be one of the angriest, most fiery first movements ever recorded. It's worth hearing for that alone, but there are other attractions as well, including a perfectly paced Adagio, and a very well-sung finale with some stellar names among the soloists…

''After Recursive Classics s successful launch recording with David Bernard and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony - the world premiere recording of the new edition of Stravinsky s The Rite of Spring, and Bartok s Concerto for Orchestra - comes the blazing follow-up with the same forces; Beethoven s Symphony No. 9.

Herbert von Karajan's 1976 rendition of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, "Choral," Op. 125, has had its advocates over the years, and many think this is his best version of the symphony. Even so, others more skeptical may find that this performance is too carefully contrived to show off the Berlin Philharmonic's exceptional chops; that the recording is too fastidiously engineered to pick up every last instrumental passage, important or not; and that the whole package is marketed too pointedly as a "great performance," which it is not.

Hollow pathos is not his thing. From an artist like Mariss Jansons Friedrich Schiller’s Ode: “An die Freude” must receive a far deeper significance, which also fully encompasses the doubt and profound hope embodied in this text. And thus, in Jansons’s recording of the Ninth Symphony, the choral finale does not degenerate to mere superficial orgy of jubilation, but rather becomes a delicately balanced, wisely developed drama. On October 27, 2007, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks played Beethoven’s Ninth in the presence of the Pope in the Vatican. The recording of this memorable concert is now being released in the highest audiophile recording quality as a multi-channel SACD.

Because Beethoven's symphonies have been played many different ways, from conventional modern versions with full-scale symphony orchestras to historically informed performances on period instruments, listeners should try several sets to get a clear idea of what suits them. Of the mainstream style of interpreting Beethoven, Otto Klemperer's approach is one of the most widely admired, and his EMI recordings of the nine symphonies have become legendary, representing the serious, rigorous, and clear-eyed treatment that he generally brought to classical music, but especially to these masterpieces…